A quick explanation, John. On Mudcat, most of the regulars probably talk in shorthand about MIDI files and ABC notation.

The MIDI files can't be posted in threads so instead the ABC files can be read by knowledgeable people or translated by software back into MIDI files so that it becomes an audio file again, but it also has the advantage of being able to be opened in music notation software so then the music notation can be viewed on screen and printed by anyone. It's a software sleight of hand trick which is useful for a text based forum for sharing music notation among each other.

My music notation programme is Noteworthy Composer NWC), a cheapie but a goodie.

To find the clock tunes so far, I listened to one of the tunes, then tried to turn it into music notation on NWC by listening phrase by phrase and adding the notes and adjusting the timing of each note until it sounded about right. (Note, I'm not terribly good at identifying tunes and notating them so this is a good brain training exercise for me.)

Then, being able to see the music notation on screen, I could look at all of the music in Vol 4 of Aird (because I thought it might be a good place to start as it was published in 1796 and Begone Dull Care is one of the tunes in the book) and then look at the beginning couple of bars of all the tunes in the book until I found one which looked similar. Then I go searching the internet for audio or video files of the tune to check if it sounds similar to the clock tune.

Does this mean that I might be correct about Tune # 3 and Tune # 4?

Which would mean that my deduction about other tunes being in the same book was correct too? I might not be so lucky with Tunes # 5 & 6.

I have to confess, I'm not very taken by the tune of Miss Wardlaw's Reel. If I had been choosing tunes, I don't think that is one that I would have chosen. However, having said that, it might be all in the playing. Hearing it on an audio file is a lot different to the way it would sound in real life with musicians giving it a bit of swing.